WORCESTER – Ashokkumar Patel, a/k/a Andy Patel, 30, of Illinois, and former resident of Worcester and Plainville, was sentenced on Tuesday, September 15 to over three years in federal prison for wire fraud and money laundering charges.
Patel was sentenced in federal court in Worcester.
According to U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling’s office, Patel took part in a conspiracy between December 2013 and October 2014 where people, primarily from India, contacted victims in the United States and told them they owed money to the IRS.
Victims were told to avoid imminent arrest they must purchase prepaid value cards, load thousands of dollars onto the cards and provide the serial numbers to the callers.
The scammers then transferred the balances onto prepaid debit cards and purchased money orders.
Patel was responsible for purchasing the prepaid debit cards, using them to purchase money orders and then depositing the purchased money orders into various bank accounts, including his own.
The loss amount to victims tied to Patel totaled $881,622.
